Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head

Astro-Creep: 2000
Studio album by White Zombie
Released April 11, 1995 (1995-04-11)
Recorded 1994 (1994)
Studio NRG Studios
(Los Angeles, CA)
Genre Industrial metal, groove metal
Length 52:01
Label Geffen
Producer Terry Date
White Zombie chronology
La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One
(1992)La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One1992		 Astro-Creep: 2000
(1995)		 Supersexy Swingin' Sounds
(1996)Supersexy Swingin' Sounds1996
Singles from Astro-Creep: 2000
  1. "Electric Head, Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)"
    Released: 1995
  2. "More Human Than Human"
    Released: 1995
  3. "Super-Charger Heaven"
    Released: 1996

Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head (or simply Astro-Creep: 2000) is the fourth and final studio album by White Zombie, released on April 11, 1995 by Geffen Records. The album proved to be their most commercially successful recording, peaking at number six on the Billboard 200 with the aid of the popular hit singles "More Human than Human" and "Super-Charger Heaven". It was the band's only album to feature John Tempesta on drums.

Production

The album was highly anticipated due to the surprise success of the band's previous release La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One. Ivan DePrume, the drummer on La Sexorcisto, had left the band to start Burningsound studios during their touring sessions for that album. The band later recruited former Exodus and Testament drummer John Tempesta for the recording of this album. The album had help from significant industrial musicians, such as the keyboard work from Charlie Clouser, who had worked with artists like Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, Killing Joke, and more. They had also hired Terry Date (Deftones, Pantera, Soundgarden) to produce Astro-Creep: 2000 for them. According to J., the album comprises seventy-two track recordings, forty-eight of which are analog and twenty-four being digital recordings.[1] The entire album took three months to write and another three to record. For the album, the band had a much bigger recording budget and more freedom in time.

Music and lyrics

The album is much heavier than La Sexorcisto, having much more of an industrial metal style rather than the groove metal of the previous album. It has been called "white-trash-on-acid metal".[2] The band also down-tuned the guitars and bass to give it the darker sound that the songs required, going from standard E tuning to dropped C# (1.5 steps below standard E).

Much of the lyrics are also darker and more disturbing than on the previous album, and are arranged more like twisted poetry than La Sexorcisto's pseudo-rap scores, dealing with murder, the undead, blasphemy, satanic elements and other such topics.

Also, as with the previous two albums, many of the songs feature snippets of dialogue from horror and cult films including The Omega Man, Shaft, The Haunting, The Curse of Frankenstein and To the Devil a Daughter. The title "More Human Than Human" is the motto of the Tyrell Corp. from the film Blade Runner and "I am the nexus one, I want more life fucker, I ain't done, yeah" is an artistic rephrasing of lines from Blade Runner.

Rob has said he favors this album to the previous one, stating, "I was never that happy with it [La Sexorcisto]. In some respects, it was probably the best thing we could do at the time under the circumstances; and that this record was exactly what we wanted it to sound like."[3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Robert Christgau[4]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[5]
Q[6]
Rolling Stone[7]

The album is White Zombie's best-selling album, being certified Double Platinum by the RIAA and selling over 2,600,000 copies in America since its release. There was also a limited 50,000 pressings of this album on see-through blue vinyl. The album has been certified by CAN platinum. The album was nominated the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album and the band's biggest hit, "More Human than Human", nominated the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1996.

To promote the album, music videos for "More Human than Human", "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)", and a live video for "Super-Charger Heaven" were released. In 1995, "More Human than Human" won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video and was considered by Rob to be his favorite White Zombie video.

There were also plans to start filming a video for "Blood, Milk and Sky" after Christmas as well as eventually filming a video for every song on the album.[8] However, these plans were scrapped when the band dissolved.

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Kerrang! United Kingdom "Albums of the Year"[9] 1995 2
Rocksound France "Albums of the Year"[10] 1995 20
OOR Netherlands "Albums of the Year"[11] 1995 23
RAW United Kingdom "90 essential albums for the 90s"[12] 1995 *
Kerrang! United Kingdom "100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die"[13] 1998 20
Pause & Play United States "The 90s Top 100 Essential Albums"[14] 1999 11
Visions Germany "The Most Important Albums of the 90s"[15] 2005 91
Classic Rock & Metal Hammer United Kingdom "The 200 Greatest Albums of the 90s"[16] 2006 *

The Song "Electric Head Pt. 1" was referenced in the manga series Black Lagoon and used in the Japanese dub of the anime series (a different, instrumental track was used in the English dub). "More Human Than Human" was used in the 1996 film The Cable Guy.

"El Phantasmo and the Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama" is used in the short film The Evolution of a Gen-X Music Purchaser which will premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.

A poster depicting the album's cover appears in the 1996 Danish crime drama "Pusher" in Vic's Copenhagen apartment.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Rob Zombie.

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Electric Head Pt. 1 (The Agony)"Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta4:54
2."Super-Charger Heaven"Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta3:37
3."Real Solution #9"Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta4:44
4."Creature of the Wheel"Yseult, Yuenger3:25
5."Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)"Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta3:53
6."Grease Paint and Monkey Brains"Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta3:49
7."I, Zombie"Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta3:31
8."More Human than Human"Yseult, Yuenger4:28
9."El Phantasmo and the Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama"Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta4:13
10."Blur the Technicolor"Yseult, Yuenger4:09
11."Blood, Milk and Sky[I]"Yseult, Yuenger, Tempesta11:21
Total length:52:01

^ I "Blood, Milk and Sky" contains the hidden track "The Sidewalk Ends Where The Bug Parade Begins" at 8:45. On the digital version, however, the hidden track is its own 2:33 track.[17]

Sample overview

# Title Samples[18]
1 "Electric Head Pt. 1 (The Agony)"
2 "Super-Charger Heaven"
  • "Look, I know the supernatural is something that isn't supposed to happen, but it does happen" is taken from the 1963 psychological horror film The Haunting
  • "Insipientia corde suo, non es deus. Non est vita qui adorem, non es usque ad unum. Es excommunicatus, ex unione fidelium." (dramatization of a Catholic heresy trial), translated as: "Foolish of heart, thou art not a god. There is no life for those who do not adore, and to a man thou hast not. Thou art excommunicated from the union of the faithful." and "It is not heresy, and I will not recant!" is taken from the 1976 horror film To the Devil a Daughter
3 "Real Solution #9"
  • "Are you hurt in any way? Do you feel like hurting yourself?" is from an episode of the reality legal series Cops
  • "Yeah, I remember her saying, 'I'm already dead.' " and "Well today I want you each to stand up and hold your hands in some stupid symbol... You're gonna get up and scream...You're gonna get up and burn an X in your head." is taken from the 1994 Primetime Live with Diane Sawyer interviewing Patricia Krenwinkel, one of the Manson family women. "Why are you still stabbing me, I'm already dead." was, according to Krenwinkel, Abigail Folger's last words. The quote "burn an X in your head" was said when discussing the actions Charles Manson had his group commit.
4 "Creature of the Wheel"
  • "Creature of the Wheel, lord of the infernal engines" and "'And oh brothers and sisters...I ask you to look at him...does he have the marks? Do you see them?' 'No.'" is from the 1971 science fiction film The Omega Man
5 "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)"
  • "I just said up yours, baby." and "Watch your mouth man. I'll say any damn thing I want." and "I'll kill the motherfucker and come looking for you!" is from the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft
6 "Grease Paint and Monkey Brains"
  • "There's a lot of people who are running now. I could run. Man, there's a lot of people who are running now. You think it's right to run?" is from the 1978 independent horror film Dawn of the Dead
7 "I, Zombie"
8 "More Human than Human"
9 "El Phantasmo and the Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama" --
10 "Blur the Technicolor"
  • "This is the end of your rotten life you motherfucking dope [pusher]" and "and you're gonna get it." is taken from the 1973 blaxploitation film Coffy
11 "Blood, Milk and Sky" --

Personnel

Adapted from the Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head liner notes.[19]

White Zombie
Additional musicians
Production and additional personnel

Chart positions

Album
Chart (1995) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] 16
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] 26
French Albums (SNEP)[22] 60
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 57
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24] 16
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 30
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 40
UK Albums (OCC)[27] 25
US Billboard 200[28] 6
Singles
Year Title Peak Chart positions
US
Main		 US
Mod		 AUS[29] UK[30]
1995 "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)" 27 — — 31
"More Human Than Human" 10 7 11 51
1996 "Super-Charger Heaven" 39 — — —
"—" denotes singles that were released but did not chart.

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United States 1995 Geffen CD, CS, LP GEF 24806
Europe 2012 Music on Vinyl LP MOVLP547

References

  1. ↑ Veneris, Andreas. "Interview: White Zombie/J". VIBE. December 8th, 1995 at Rosemont Horizon, Chicago. cited October 31, 2008
  2. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "White Zombie: Astro-Creep: 2000 - Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  3. ↑ Engleheart, Murray. "White Zombie Monster Cars & Monster Music". Rip. October, 1995. cited October 30, 2008
  4. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "White Zombie". Robert Christgau.com. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  5. ↑ Zogbi, Marina (April 14, 1995). "Astro Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head Review". Entertainment Weekly: 64. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  6. ↑ columnist (July 1995). "White Zombie: Astro Creep: 2000". Q: 131.
  7. ↑ Brackett, Nathan. "White Zombie". November 2004. pg. 870, cited March 17, 2010
  8. ↑ Miller, Gerri. "White Zombie Live & Backstage". Metal Edge Magazine. March, 1996. cited October 30, 2008
  9. ↑ "Kerrang! – Albums of the Year". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on 27 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  10. ↑ "Rocksound – Albums of the Year". Rocksound. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  11. ↑ "OOR – Albums of the Year". OOR. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  12. ↑ "RAW – 90 essential albums for the 90s". RAW. Archived from the original on 29 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  13. ↑ "Kerrang! – 100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  14. ↑ "Pause & Play – The 90s Top 100 Essential Albums". Pause & Play. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  15. ↑ "Visions – The Most Important Albums of the 90s". Visions. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  16. ↑ "Acclaimed Music – Classic Rock and Metal Hammer 200 List". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  17. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/album/3HugnfabsMODIbxzwxS5xC
  18. ↑ "White Zombie's Sample-Based Music". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  19. ↑ Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head (booklet). White Zombie. Los Angeles, California: Geffen Records. 1995.
  20. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – White Zombie – Astro Creep: 2000 Songs Of Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – White Zombie – Astro Creep: 2000 Songs Of Love" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Lescharts.com – White Zombie – Astro Creep: 2000 Songs Of Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – White Zombie – Astro Creep: 2000 Songs Of Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – White Zombie – Astro Creep: 2000 Songs Of Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – White Zombie – Astro Creep: 2000 Songs Of Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  27. ↑ "White Zombie | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  28. ↑ "White Zombie – Chart history" Billboard 200 for White Zombie. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Discography White Zombie". Steffen Hung, australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  30. ↑ "UK Top 40 Chart Archive, British Singles & Album Charts". everyHit.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
Studio albums
Extended plays
Remix albums
Compilations
Singles
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